Reasons Behind Words
by kaigedbird
Summary: When Ron pops the big question, Hermione notices another red head capturing her heart.
1. Chapter 1

Hermione Jean Granger was a girl of reason. Or rather a _woman _of reason, as her best friend Ginny kept curtly reminding her. Hermione Jean Granger was a woman of reason, and it was that reasoning that had led her to utter one life changing word the night before.

She had been snuggled tightly in a warm blanket in her room at the Burrow reading (rereading actually) one of her favorite romance novels when she heard a knock at the door.

"Hermione? You awake in there?" Ron's voice called quietly. If she hadn't been listening, she wouldn't have heard it and she wondered if that's what he had intended.

"Yeah," she began hastily, shoving the book under her blanket, "come on in."

The door creaked open and the thin, red headed mess that was Ron Weasley emerged from the dark hallway. He was looking rather pale as he wiped his sweating palms on his trousers repeatedly. He looked…scared? Hermione's brain immediately jumped to the worst possible conclusions.

"What's wrong? Did something happen to Harry? Is Ginny alright? Is something going on at Hogwarts? Ronald Weasley I demand that you tell me what is going on right this second!" she commanded as she began to untangle her self from her blanket and reached for her wand.

"What? No! Bloody hell Hermione, you could atleast give me t-time to start," Ron stuttered.

"Oh. Sorry then. What were you going to say?" Hermione frowned. Even if whatever Ron had to say wasn't tragic, it was definitely no joking matter.

"Alright then."

A few moments passed without either of the two making any noise. Hermione resisted the urge to push him as he tried to find the right words.

"So the other day I was thinking about things, about us really. We've been best friends for a while and then we started this whole dating thing. It's been what, a year now?"

"Just under," Hermione supplied.

"Right. What I mean to say is, we've been through a lot together, you know? I can't believe I never noticed this before but I think I'm—" Ron stopped short.

"Think you're what, Ron?" Hermione asked with a curious glint in her wide eyes. What could he possibly be getting at? Maybe he's talking about finally taking that trip to Romania that she'd been badgering him about. Oh, he could be talking about going to help George and Fred with the shop, he did say he wanted to bring in more money for the family. Or maybe-

"Blimey, Hermione, could you stop looking at me like that?" Ron requested rather suddenly.

"What's the problem?" Hermione asked innocently.

"I'm trying to say something important here and you looking at me with those eyes isn't going to help me do it!" Ron snapped.

"Well what would you rather me look at you with, Ron? _You _came in here wanting to talk to me, I didn't ask to be yelled at!" Hermione sniped. Ron's face softened.

"Look 'Mione, I'm really sorry. It's just…do you think you could turn around?" Ron suggested halfheartedly. She rolled her eyes and turned around, her patience fleeting fast.

"Thanks," he muttered.

"Please just tell me what you're getting at with this whole conversation?" she asked hopefully. Hermione Granger was nothing if not curious.

"Well. Er. You don't have to say yes. It's your choice, it always has been, it always will be. I'd like it if you'd say yes. But no pressure."

"Say yes to what?" Hermione questioned, her voice rising in volume with every word.

"Will you marry me?" Ron asked in a barely audible whisper.

"Ron I swear if you don't learn to speak up—" Hermione started.

"I asked if you would marry me!" his face turning beet red as he the words left his mouth.

Oh.

_Oh. _

"Ron, it's just that you really hadn't led me on to believe that this was going to happen anytime soon and I have so much I want to do to help the Ministry, it's been a wreck ever since the end of the war and I just didn't see this coming" she babbled.

"So that's a no then?" Ron asked sheepishly.

Hermione took a deep breath and peered at Ron through her messy brown tresses. He was looking at her with wide, unguarded eyes that were rarely seen behind his disheveled hair these days. He wasn't a bad catch, all things considered. It would make sense for her to marry into the Weasley family, everyone expected her to. She turned over the facts in her head and fixed her eyes on the blanked that she had been wrapped in only moments before. It was a good blanked. A little rough and tattered around the edges. Not just long enough to cover her entire body, and sort of patchy in some places, but she knew that this blanket would stay with he until her last breath, it was so well made. It wouldn't make sense to abandon this blanket for a new one, it was so comfortable. She took another deep breath.

"Ron, I'm saying yes," she said tentatively.

"What?"

"I'll marry you Ron. That's my answer. Yes."


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Thank you for the positive feedback. I tried to omit the spelling errors from this chapter, and I just wanted to give a thank you to my wonderful beta 3 I hope you enjoy :) **

Hermione always found it comforting to be roused from her slumber in the morning by the sound of shattering glass and the soothing sight of a Quaffle destroying her bedroom. Pushing her tangled brown mess of hair behind her ears, she hastily whispered a variation on stupefy that calmed the ball down long enough for her to catch it and secure it in her arms.

"RONALD BILIUS WEASLEY, GET OVER HERE RIGHT NOW," her voice thundered.

Moments later a rather guilty looking Ron appeared in front of her window, clutching his broom like it was his only chance at getting out of there alive. Which, considering Hermione's expression, was probably true.

"Would you care to explain," Hermione hissed, "why your Quaffle woke me up at _six in the morning_ and then promptly attempted to ruin our room?"

"Well…er…there is a very good explanation for that you see and if you'd just let me explain then I'd….HARRY SHE'S TRYING TO KILL ME," Ron screamed as Hermione attempted to throw various objects at him.

"She's always trying to kill you!" Harry called from the yard.

"When we moved in together what was the first rule I laid down? The very first?" she demanded.

"I…er…" Ron began meekly.

"The very first thing I said," Hermione started through clenched teeth, "was that I was not to be woken up before ten. Did I not say that?"

"Well you did but—"

"Do you think that rule _changes _just because we are home for Thanksgiving?"

"...No?" he asked meekly.

"Good. I suppose the rest of the family is up now though, and seeing as I won't be able to go back to sleep," she paused as she glowered at him, "we might as well go down to breakfast. I'll be there in ten minutes and if you know what's best for you, you'll be there too."

"You don't suppose I could have my ball back do you?"

Hermione found this a great time to throw the Quaffle directly toward Ron's face.

ϟ ϟ ϟ ϟ

Ten minutes later, Hermione had washed and dressed herself (all the while muttering 'He's lucky I'm not washing off blood" under her breath) and had made her way downstairs to find all the Weasleys gathered around the breakfast table. Not that she could see it anyway. Every inch of the oak table had been covered in food, from bacon and eggs to pancakes and sausages and some things that Hermione had never seen before. She made her way to the table and found a seat next to Fred.

"Thanksgiving _breakfast_," Fred muttered, "Mum goes sort of loopy around the holiday season.

"It's wonderful," she whispered, but Fred had already turned back to his twin.

She searched the room until she found Ron sitting in the furthest corner of the table, attempting to hide behind Harry. She marched over to him and tried to grab him by the hair but Harry got to her first.

"Hermione, there are too many witnesses. Sit down and wait until he least expects it," he cautioned quietly. For a moment Hermione looked as if she might still attack, but she instead relaxed and sat down.

"What did you say?" Ron asked eyes wide.

"I told her you were sorry," Harry said, keeping a straight face.

"I can always count on you mate," Ron grinned.

As they ate, the family exchanged some short (well in Percy's case, very long, and extremely dreary) anecdotes from their lives over the last year. Mrs. Weasley kept prodding Harry and Ginny for grandchildren to which Ginny replied with a series of glares and smart aleck responses. It was extremely similar to a regular family breakfast, that is, it _was _until Mrs. Weasley asked how Ron and Hermione were doing.

"I erm…actually have an announcement to make," Ron began. He attempted to catch Hermione's eye but she was engrossed in her pancakes.

The party looked at Ron with questioning eyes, though that didn't keep them from eating as they did.

"Last night I proposed to Hermione, and she said yes," he said brightly, but there was an ounce of caution in his voice, as if he expected the family to question him.

Hermione's eyes shot up. How did she forget she was engaged? For a moment there was silence and then Mrs. Weasley began to scream and everything else began to fall into chaos. Hermione was promptly attacked with a series of hugs from everyone at the table, including Fred, which for some reason made her blush furiously. Next to her, Mrs. Weasley began to plan the guest list and continued to insist that the theme be maroon. Ron grinned at her from across the table and she gave a weak smile back. She was flustered, a feeling she hated, and wanted to get away from the commotion as quickly as possible.

"I really appreciate this Mrs. Weasley, it was delicious and I'm so glad Ron made the announcement but I have a terrible headache so I think I'm just going to go up to my room for a while," she faked a smile and headed upstairs as she fought the urge to run.

"You don't suppose she's pregnant do you?" Mrs. Weasley asked in her version of a whisper.

"Mum!" Ron warned.

Hermione shut the door and tossed herself onto her bed. This was all happening too quickly. It felt like she had only begun dating Ron yesterday, how could they already be getting married? She could still hear Mrs. Weasley making plans downstairs.

"She'll want roses, lots of them. I'll do the catering of course, and I could make the dress, only if she wanted though…." she droned on. Hermione hid her head under the pillow. She felt tears start to well up in her eyes but she couldn't figure out why. Ron had proposed, she should've been happy. Instead she felt suffocated. She was thankful that she was torn from her thoughts by a knock on her door.

"Come on in," she called, dabbing at her eyes.

Fred walked in, closing her door behind him. He gave her a lopsided smirk, but something seemed to be tugging at the sides of it, pulling it down.

"How are you feeling?" he asked lightly, pretending to examine her walls.

"I'm fine, really. It was just a stress headache."

"Do those always induce crying?" he questioned, but there was an edge to his voice.

"I wasn't crying."

"Of course not," he said, putting on a smile, "But I'm sorry about Mum anyway. She can get a little overwhelming sometimes."

"She's just excited," Hermione smiled.

"Are you?"

"Of course I am. What kind of question is that?" she asked, eyes narrowing.

"Apparently a touchy one."

"Can I help you with something?" she sniped.

"I just wanted to say congratulations. I hope it's everything you want it to be."

"It will be."

"Right. I'll send over some new products we've just finished. Maybe they'll cheer you up," he grinned.

"Thanks, but if you send over anymore of the ones that explode, I'll throw a fit," she warned.

"Your request had been noted. I'd better go, George wants to show me some new ideas, can't keep him waiting."

Fred stood up and headed for the door. He paused for a moment to think and then turned around and gave Hermione a kiss on the forehead.

"You'll make a great sister," he whispered, and then he left, but the warmth she felt where his lips touched her skin stayed long after he was gone.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey guys thanks for all your great reviews :) You all rock! Once again thank you to my amazing superfantastical beta, Jackie (was that enough adjectives for you? 3) I know this is a short chapter but I promise to update soon.**

Sleep. Sleep was exactly what Hermione needed after a moment like that. She could still feel where Fred's lips had touched her and she felt a veil of guilt drifting over her. It wasn't her place to feel anything more than platonic for anyone other than Ron, and yet...Sleep. Sleep was good. Sleep was-

"HERMIONE JEAN GRANGER YOU OPEN THIS DOOR," Ginny shrieked from the hallway.

Sleep was out of the question.

Reluctantly, Hermione swung her legs off the side of the bed and ambled to the door. By the time her hand touched the doornknob, Ginny was already sitting on her bed.

"Just because you can apparate doesn't-"

"Shut it Hermy. I have something to say," Ginny announced with a lethal stare.

Hermione looked at Ginny with a vacant gaze. This was going to be good.

"You're my best friend. You're the sister I never had. You know everything about me. You're the only one who knows about my fling with Blaise in 4th year. You were the first one to spot that I was in love with Harry. I've looked up to you since the day I met you. I love you."

"Awh Ginny that's so-"

"_But, _that also means I know everything about you. I know when you're lying. I know when you're sad. I know what went on with Draco in your third year, and I know the real reason you slapped him. I know everything there is to know about you, which means that I _know _when you're marrying the wrong brother."

"I-I'm s-sure I don't know what you're talking about!" Hermione stuttered.

"I'm sure you do! You think I didn't see the look on your face when he hugged you? You think I don't see the way you feel about him?" Ginny demanded.

"No you don't! You don't know anything! I'm in love with Ron!" Hermione yelled.

Ginny stood there for a moment, eyes wide. She chewed on the inside of her cheek, waiting for her temper to cool down. They stood in silence for a few moments and when the pink tint in Ginny's cheeks had almost faded, Hermione began to speak again.

"I'm sorry...I shouldn't have yelled. You know a lot, you're really smart. You're my best friend too. But you have to believe me. I'm going to marry Ron. We're going to have children and grow old together. I'll wake up with him every morning and go to bed with him every night. We'll have family quidditch matches when the weather is nice and make homemade butterbeer when it's not. This is the way things are supposed to be," Hermione said, but she wasn't sure if she was trying to convince Ginny or herself.

Ginny's eyes looking defiant but rather than argue she said, "Okay, fine. Let's drop it. Did you hear about Luna..."

The girls spoke for hours about pointless, lighthearted topics. They dabbled in a few thing, mainly their past at Hogwarts and some new shops opening in Diagon Alley. After a few while, Ginny stood to leave.

"I've got to go, Harry and I have plans for tonight," Ginny said with a wink.

"Don't do anything I wouldn't do!" Hermione cautioned.

"So that's drink, smoke, laugh, have fun-"

"Hey! I am loads of fun!" Hermione protested.

"Whatever helps you sleep at night, girly," Ginny laughed.

Hermione gave her a firm look as she attempted to fight a smile.

"Have a great time," Hermione said sincerely.

"I always do!"

"Don't come back too late okay? Mrs. Weasley almost had a heart attack last time," Hermione warned.

"Honey, I've been doing this a lot longer than you have. Don't wait up!"

Ginny flounced out of the room with a smile, but Hermione felt the air go stale as she left. Her mind began to wander back to Fred...

Sleep. That's what Hermione needed. Sleep.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Hey guys, thank you for all your great reviews :) I really enjoy reading them. I'm sorry I haven't updated in a bit, things have been sort of hectic around here. I need to go out of town, so if I don't update for a couple of weeks, I'm really sorry. I'll try to upload a new chapter while I'm gone but no promises. Once again, all the thanks in the world to my amazing beta (who by the way, is also my best friend) for reviewing this.**

Hermione was on a beach. She was sure it was the Isle of Arran, a small island which her parents had taken her for vacation the summer before she went to Hogwarts. She was sitting on a porch overlooking the ocean, slivers of sunlight reflecting off the cool water. A beam of sunlight glimmered against her ring finger, which was wrapped in a white gold, sapphire encrusted band with a large diamond sitting in the middle, as if it were upon a throne.

"This must be my honeymoon," she whispered curiosly.

Behind her, Ron cleared his throat.

"Oh Ro-" Hermione began, but when she turned to greet him she found it was not Ron, but Fred who stood behind her. His hands were full with two heaping plates of eggs, sausages, toast, and other breakfast delicacies.

"Good afternoon Sunshine," he said with a coy smile playing across hiws lips.

"Erm, hello," she said cautiously as she took the saucer Fred was handing to her, "Where's Ron?" Fred gave her a curious smirk as he sat down beside her.

"At the Burrow, with the rest of the family, hopefully leaving us alone," he whispered as he leaned in for a kiss.

"Oh!" Hermione shrieked as she backed away, willing her lips to retract instead of meeting his own.

"Are you alright?" Fred asked, seeming genuinely concerned.

"Fine! Just...not in the mood right now," she lied, fully knowing that she had never been more 'in the mood' than she was when his lips almost met hers only seconds ago.

"Yeah, well I suppose you would be tired after last night..." he grinned.

"Fred!"

He chortled to himself as she took a long sip of coffee, wondering why she wasn't more put off by her current scenario. As his laughter began to cease he wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her into his lap. On instinct, she leaned her head into his chest and relaxed. He stroked her hair and she tried to remember the last time she and Ron ever had a moment this simple and sweet.

"Aren't you hungry" he asked, observing her untouched plate.

"Not yet, maybe in an hour or so. Thank you for breakfast though," she smiled.

"Well...I _can _think of better ways to spend our time," Fred said slyly as he scooped her up and headed into the house.

"Fred!" she shrieked as he bounded up the stairs.

He opened the door to a small bedroom that had been decorated entirely in a lotus theme.

"My favorite," she murmured.

Fred grinned as he placed her delicately on the queen sized bed that lay in the middle of the room. He leaned over her, red hair flopping in his eyes as he kissed her forehead.

"Fred," she breathed.

"You keep saying my name like that and I'm not going to believe you're not in the mood," he whispered as he kissed her forehead.

She laughed loudly as she wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned in for a kiss which he returned eagerly.

"Now I really don't belive you," he said with a wink.

She peered up at him from behind her tangled brown tresses and gave him a huge grin. He looked down at her with calculating eyes.

"What?" she asked curiously.

"You're a whore," he said plainly.

"Not funny Fred," she warned, eyes narrowed.

"Ron will never forgive you."

She felt the air become heavy.

"Look how easily you fell for me after you told him you love him. He's my brother, don't you get it?"

Her palms started to sweat.

"I will never love you. You're going to break his heart."

The walls were closing in.

"He has loved you for years, did you ever feel the same way?"

She couldn't breathe.

"I hate you."

The scenery dissolved as she found herself back in her the room at the Burrow staring into Ron's worried green eyes. She screeched and promptly fell off of the bed.

"Mione!" Ron exclaimed as he reached his hand toward her.

"I'm fine!" she said breezily, her world still spinning.

"What happened?" he asked warily.

"Just a bad dream. Need tea. Get some sleep. Don't follow," she said quickly, her eyes trained on the ground as she made a beeline for the door.

For a moment she was afraid she heard Ron gettin up behind her, but when she looked back he had taken over her side of the bed, fast asleep once more. She rushed down stairs in a frenzy as she pulled various cartons of tea off the shelves and slammed the kettle down on the stove. She gripped the counter with a fury, her knuckles turning white.

"Stressed?"

She whipped around to find Fred staring at her clenched fists, cocking an eyebrow. She tried to ignore the way her pulse quickened when she saw him.

"Just excited I guess," she said nonchalantly.

"Makes sense. A lot happened today. Mind if I join you?" he asked as he plopped himself down at the table.

"It would appear you already have," she said pointedly.

"It's easier to ask for forgiveness than to get permission," he pointed out with a wide grin as he grabbed a peach from the center of the table.

"Depends on who you're asking."

"Touche, Mrs. Granger," he said teasingly.

"It's Ms. Granger. It hasn't happened yet," she said cooly, but he could sense that there was an ounce of uneasiness in her voice.

"Right, of course. Would you mind passing me the sugar?"

She glanced around the kitchen for a few moments until her eyes found a small jar of sugar behind a heaping pile of dishes. She tossed it to him and than looked at him curiously as he took a bite out of the peach and then sprinkled sugar over the inside of the fruit.

"What are you doing?" she asked with caution.

"Eating," he said, his face covered in the sticky peach substance.

"Well why'd you put sugar all over it?" she pressed, her nose crinkling as she studied him.

"Makes it sweeter."

"It's sweet enough already! The fruit is naturally sweet!"

"Not sweet enough for my liking."

"Do all Weasley men have a sweet tooth?" she asked, shaking her head.

"Ah, Hermione. Still so young. You have yet to discover that we Weasley's simply use our love of sweets to battle the negativity of day to day life. It's a defense mechanism, you see? It just our way of saying 'hey, the world may be falling to shit around us and we might be dirt poor, but we still have peaches with sugar and chocolate treats to get us through the day," he mused, faking a poetic tone.

"You think you're really clever, don't you?" she laughed.

"Well I have to keep up with you, now don't I?"

"I think your rather brilliant in your own rite," she said softly.

"You do?" he asked cautiously, searching her face for signs of sarcasm.

"Well yeah. It must take a lot of work to think of all the stuff for the joke shop, and it's all really brilliant."

"Thanks, Mione."

He held her gaze for a moment and she found herself thinking about her dream and how good his hands had felt on her before everything went awry and she didn't know why but she leaned in and somehow he was kissing her and she was kissing him. She wrapped her arms around his neck and his hands found a resting place on the small of her back. She took time memorizing the taste of his lips and the way he smelled like spearmint and she was so engrossed in the way his skin felt against her skin that she failed to notice the unmistakable cracking sound of someone apparating behind them.

It was Fred who pulled away. When she looked up to question him, or possibly explain why it could never happen again, she saw that his gaze was trained on something behind her. She turned around to see Ginny and Harry staring at them with wide eyes.

"We were just-" Fred began.

"It's okay. We're just going to go upstairs and we'll see you in the morning," Ginny said, pulling Harry upstairs, but not before she gave Hermione a look that said that they would be discussing this in detail very soon.

"Can we talk about this?" he asked slowly.

"I should get back to bed," she whispered.

"Right. I'll see you in the morning."

"Goodnight Fred."

"Goodnight Hermione."


End file.
